Twin Post Mirror Mounting

[vanillaspence]

Hello all, I'm working my way through some issues on my '66 Sport Fury. After pulling off the twin post mirror it appears to be fastened with plastic drywall anchors in the door.

My question is how should it be mounted? Does(should) it mount directly to the outer door sheet metal? Are there clips that go on the inside of the door that I'm missing?

Thank you!

 

[CBODY67]

Welcome!

Mirrors were not standard equipment back then, but were a part of option packages. As with earlier cars, aftermarket mirrors were plentiful. "Yankee" was a popular brand. Taking the door trim off to install a backing plate for the provided screws to screw into was usually not done. Which probably resulted in what you have on the car now.

Are you desiring to do something more correct or just verify what is now on the car?

At the Chevy dealership I worked at, in the later 1970s, it was popular to upgrade the standard pickup truck side mirrors to the "below eye-line" tri-pod mirrors. They came with brass "moly-nuts" with a vinyl-coated outer flange. Drill the hole in the panel, push the moly-nut into the hole, then the fine-thread bolt (in the factory GM accessory mirror package) would spread the three legs as the bolt was tightened into the nut. Our installer just drilled the hole and used sheet metal screws to hold things to the door panel. Not good, but it worked . . .

Take care,
CBODY67

 

[Big_John]

Hello all, I'm working my way through some issues on my '66 Sport Fury. After pulling off the twin post mirror it appears to be fastened with plastic drywall anchors in the door.

My question is how should it be mounted? Does(should) it mount directly to the outer door sheet metal? Are there clips that go on the inside of the door that I'm missing?

Thank you!

At the Chevy dealership I worked at, in the later 1970s, it was popular to upgrade the standard pickup truck side mirrors to the "below eye-line" tri-pod mirrors. They came with brass "moly-nuts" with a vinyl-coated outer flange. Drill the hole in the panel, push the moly-nut into the hole, then the fine-thread bolt (in the factory GM accessory mirror package) would spread the three legs as the bolt was tightened into the nut. Our installer just drilled the hole and used sheet metal screws to hold things to the door panel. Not good, but it worked . . .

With accessory Mopar mirrors that were added by the dealership, usually on the passenger side, the standard mounting was a metal version of a drywall anchor. Basically similar to what @CBODY67 is saying. I don't know if they went back to 1966 though.

From the '66 Mopar accessory catalog.

 

[vanillaspence]

I appreciate the info! I'm just trying to see if there was a standard installation method that I had overlooked.

I have been considering rivnuts, but these moly-nuts or jack-nut metal anchors also have potential. I'll post a follow up when I have some progress.

 

[vanillaspence]

Ended up going with rivnuts. I had to elongate the front hole a bit, as well as modify the bolts and mirror a bit to accommodate the more vertical mounting required. Its not beautiful under the mirror but its secure. Before and after

 

[CBODY67]

Those Allen-head counter-sunks look more upscale than a normal Phillips-head retainer. Hope you put some protective paint on the inside of the newly-exposed metal.

Take care,
CBODY67